East Bay Plant Nurseries - trees and veggies
Hello! Spring is here and I'm itching to do some planting - annual flowers for color, veggie and strawberry plants, and even some large trees that I can put up for a little bit of shade. The recommendations here at a little bit dated and some places have closed. I'm familiar with some of the Oakland and Berkeley area nurseries, are there any that are worth a longer drive (like Walnut Creek, San Ramon, etc), for prices and selection? We go to East Bay Nursery most often, but Sundays and Mondays are typically when we have free time and they're closed both days. Thanks for all of your tips!
May 8, 2022
Parent Replies
Orchard Nursery in Lafayette is huge and has everything. I believe they are closed Tues-Wed.
I would recommend going to Alden Lane Nursery in Livermore. They have been in business for 67 years and Alden Lane has an amazing selection and the merchandise is of high quality. Alden Lane is very community oriented with events and classes. https://www.aldenlane.com/ The workers at the nursery are super helpful and knowledgeable. Here is their hours and contact info https://www.aldenlane.com/contact .
Berkeley Horticultural is a good place, especially for veggies.
For many trees, your best bet is to go online and plan to plant in the winter. Getting a tree in the mail may seem a bit odd but the folks who sell them know what they're doing.
You may have greater success if the online company is relatively local. Deciduous trees in general and fruit trees in particular often don't do well here because they don't experience a cold-enough winter and/or hot-enough summer. In particular, they need enough chilling hours as a biological signal or they won't break dormancy properly. A lot of big on-line nurseries provide climate-requirement information that isn't correct for our area. (For that matter, big-box stores are probably pretty dicey.)
Raintree Nursery and Trees of Antiquity are great for fruit trees; Raintree also sells ornamentals.
Raintree is a West Coast company, and Trees of Antiquity is in California, and as a result they seem to have a better handle on what works in our area. They both also sell a big range of varieties--you can grow Fuji apples here, but you can also grow delicious varieties that will never be in the grocery store.
Another way to get a climate-appropriate tree is to plant a native species. Online: Las Pilitas Nursery. In-person: California Flora Nursery in Fulton and Native Here Nursery in Tilden Park are options. Plant Native (https://plantnative.org/nd_ca.htm) and Calscape have extensive lists of native plant nurseries.
Annie's in Richmond (https://www.anniesannuals.com/) is absolutely worth the drive - good selection, healthy plants, and a beautiful place to wonder around, too. Planting Justice in Oakland (https://plantingjustice.org/) has trees and other things and also helps a good cause. And Ploughshares in Alameda (http://ploughsharesnursery.com/) - plus you can stop by the new Compost Hub (https://alamedabackyardgrowers.org/alameda-compost-hub-now-open/) and pick up some compost while you're there! If you're looking for native plants or unique things, the botanical gardens (https://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/shop-deck and https://nativeplants.org/, for example) are good resources. There are a bunch of other great nurseries in Berkeley/Oakland but I'm assuming you know about those. I could go on (don't get me started talking about plants!) but I'm sure others will have good suggestions, too.
Annie’s Annuals in Richmond is amazing, they have a huge selection of plants organized by shade, sun, edible, native, etc. Very COVID safe too, hand sanitizer stations, plenty of space to spread out. Flowerland in Albany is much smaller but they have a nice selection too (many of their plants come from Annie’s), plus a coffee shop on site.
Annie’s Annuals in Richmond!
We love Grand Lake ACE Hardware & Garden on Grand Ave., right on the Piedmont/Oakland border. The folks there are really nice and knowledgeable! Happy gardening!
~Mailisha
Orchard Nursery in Lafayette is really nice. The owners of East bay nursery are related to the owners of Orchard. We also love going to Annie's in Richmond - everything we've gotten from there does amazingly well. Happy gardening!
I'm an avid gardener and second the recommendations so far, but I want to highlight Grand Lake Ace. They have so much in a compact space, and the staff are all knowledgeable. I do a lot of comparison shopping, and their prices are reasonable. They are open every day (but short hours on Sunday).
Here's a few notes on a couple already recommended:
Annie's--almost all 4" plants, so not as flexible if you want to start with larger plants.
Orchard in Lafayette--a wonderful place, but be sure to know your hardiness rating as many plants there are more suited for the climate through the tunnel. ALso pricing tends to be higher than EB and GLA.
I also really like Broadway Terrace Nursery. It's more of a neighborhood nursery like Westbrae, but they have a helpful staff and a lot of great plants, pots, etc.
Berkeley Hort on Hopkins is really nice. We use Orchard in Lafayette the most, as it's the closest to us. The Ace Garden Center on Grand Ave in Oakland is a hidden gem. Broadway Terrace Nursery was a regular stop for us when we lived in Oakland, but I haven't been there in a while.
Check out Morning Sun Herb Nursery in Vacaville -- it's a magical space and they have incredible varieties of herbs, perennials, native plants and some really nice outdoor art (and a donkey and chickens).
https://morningsunherbfarm.com/
If you're willing to drive to Richmond, I love Annie's Annuals. The prices are great and the selection (particularly of native species) is fantastic. The name is misleading- they don't just sell annuals- they sell pretty much any form of plant life. They're definitely open on Sundays because that's when I typically go, not sure about Mondays but their website is good and would have this info.